Preparing for and experiencing a loss is a devastating experience for patients and their loved ones, and when BCHC colleagues approached BCHC Charity with ideas on how to provide some measure of solace during these difficult times, the Charity Team were more than happy to oblige.

Each year, BCHC Charity spends around £15,000 on projects, initiatives and items to support patients in their last months, as well as providing beautiful mementos for their families and loved ones. These items help families build wonderful memories together and provide a treasured keepsake.

For example, our Bereavement Memory Boxes are a lovely way for families to celebrate the life of their loved ones. The boxes contain remembrance items such as memory candles and seeds to grow a forget-me-not plant. There is an inset on the lid to display a treasured photograph, and they are large enough that further personal trinkets and items can be added to create a box of wonderful memories.

BCHC Charity also provides funding for dandelion bags used to return patients belongings to their families, books about loss for the Children's Palliative Care Team to help children come to terms with the loss of other children in their family, as well as the materials for both children's and adults services to create hand print or full hand moulds of their loved ones, as keepsakes for their families.

As well as these ongoing initiatives, we also provide funding for one-off projects such as refurbishment, redecoration, and extra amenities for bereavement suites to create a tranquil space for families to come to terms with prognoses or the loss of a loved one. In December 2020, local artist Hannah Clark designed bespoke framed prints, gifted to families accessing our Community Children's Nurses and Children's Palliative Care teams to brighten the children's day and provide a lasting keepsake for families.

By donating to or fundraising for the Dandelion appeal, you will help BCHC Charity provide these extras to patients accessing our palliative care services, helping families and carers collect treasured memories and keepsakes to bring peace during a difficult time. Here's how your donation could make a difference:

£5 could provide a beautiful and discrete bereavement bag for the storage and collection of patients' personal items

£15 could provide 3 children's books about loss to help children deal with grief

£25 could fund a Bereavement Memory Box for families to collect treasured memories

£100 could pay for beautiful artwork for bereavement rooms across the Trust

£250 could pay for the materials for 12 hand mould kits to create beautiful bespoke family keepsakes

Sally Wright, Team Leader at Willow House West Heath Hospital, said, ‘’Having extra funds available to us through our charity funds makes such a difference to the patients on our ward, from being able to buy nightwear and toiletries for patients who don’t have any friends or family to support them to more substantial purchases such as our cuddle bed which enables us to be able to offer ‘sleepovers’ for the partners of our patients so they can spend precious extra time with their loved ones’’.

The dandelion has been the BCHC symbol for end of life services since 2020 and as such was chosen as the feature for the centre of the garden. The dandelion clock itself represents the fragility of life, whilst the nature of the dandelion as a weed is a testament to the resilience of those touched by the lives of those who have passed on. The floating seeds represent a hope for the future; that new things can grow even in dark times.

BCHC Charity is the official NHS charity for Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) NHS Foundation Trust, which provides community health services across the city. The charity's mission is to enhance patient experience and improve their time within the care of BCHC services by funding the extras that are not covered by the core NHS funds.